


where Severus Snape is a Good Man

by andacupofcocoa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Good Severus Snape, I'm Bad At Summaries, Marauders, Marauders era, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 07:27:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11270838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andacupofcocoa/pseuds/andacupofcocoa
Summary: A series of events that might have been changed if Severus was a Good Man. Starting from the moment he meets Lily Evans, going through his years at Hogwarts, and later on as a Professor at Hogwarts.// feedback appreciated!// bad at summaries!





	where Severus Snape is a Good Man

**Author's Note:**

> make sure you check the notes at the end, and answer in the comments to change the events of the story yourself! Feedback appreciated! Thank you for reading my awful, awful work.
> 
> !! this is not a Lily/Snape work, sorry Snily fans!

“Freak!” The girl cried shrilly, darting forward after the retreating form off her sister, pointing at her accusingly as the eleven year old continued, “I’m telling Mummy and Daddy what a freak you are!”

“She’s not a freak!” Severus retaliated, moving from behind the gnarled tree he’d been observing them from, startling the other two girls quite a bit if the way they jumped was an indicator at all. The brunette stared at him in surprise before darting off, no-doubt off to tell her parents that the raggedy boy from down the lane was speaking to them once again. But the other sister seemed happier to see him, more at ease.

“You know you’re only going to make it worse, Sev,” Lily said, walking over to her new friend, who stood rigidly, watching as the other girl became smaller and smaller as more distance was put between them. He huffed in response, brushing a strand of greasy black hair out of his eyes that fell back into place the moment he turned to look at Lily.

“She shouldn’t treat you that way, just because you’re different. She’s- she’s just-,” the young boy gestured wildly with his hands for a moment as he searched for an adequate term to describe Petunia Evans, most wildly inappropriate for a wizard his age, before he finally settled on, “jealous! She’s just jealous, that you’re Special and she’s Ordinary.”

“That isn’t very nice,” Lily scolded, but there was no real venom in her words as she fell into the dried grass beneath their tree, prompting Severus to sit beside her. As he sat, she sighed, absentmindedly starting to pluck at the dead plants between them. For a while, all was silent apart from the breaking of the fragile strands, Severus content to watch her take out her exasperation on the already dead plants. Besides, he knew better than to say anything when Lily was like this - she liked the quiet, and he did, too. They liked it for the same reason, he liked to think, because there was no-one screaming at the either of them. Lily got more silence than Severus did, most days.

“I got my Hogwarts letter today,” Lily finally said, her eyes lighting up in excitement, “I woke up, and there was this huge- you should have seen it, Sev, it was huuge -owl sitting on my windowsill, and in it’s beak… It was my letter! You told me they delivered by owl, but I thought you were joking.”

It was odd, but.. Kind of great to see Lily get excited over something that he thought was ordinary, like owl delivery and the thought of going to Hogwarts. He couldn’t wait to see her reaction once they actually got to the school… not that he’d actually been there himself, yet, but he knew the stories that his mother whispered to him in the hours before dawn, before his father awoke.

“I got mine today, too,” he said softer, hand coming up to absentmindedly rub at the new, handprint bruise hidden beneath his oversized jacket. “He didn’t take it well.”

“Your father doesn’t like magic?”

“He doesn’t like anything, much.”

Lily frowned, her gaze pulled to the boy’s arm where his other hand was hold it. Severus had problems at home, she wasn’t daft enough to think for a moment that he didn’t, but part of her wished that he would open up to her more about what went on in his life. The other part of her, the part of her that saw the way he limped some days, the part of her that saw the occasional black eye and fat lip, wished to never know exactly went on in the Snape home. But all of her wished that her friend didn’t have to live through the pain. She didn’t know that the boy felt the same for her, he didn’t want her to believe she was a freak like her family insisted she was.

“Soon, we’ll be away from all this, at least for a little while,” Lily said, falling onto her back to stare up into the leaves of their tree, “and we’ll be able to practice magic, and go to magic school, and-” her nose crinkled up in excitement, “we won’t have to sit through boring maths and english classes anymore. It’s going to be grand, Sev, you’ll see!” She promised, determination welling up in her as she gave the young boy a fierce smile.

“What.. what if we don’t get sorted into the same House, Lily?” Severus asked unsurely, finally voicing the worry that had been eating at him the first few months. No matter how desperately he wanted it, he knew that Lily Evans didn’t belong in Slytherin. Lily Evans was ambitious, yes, and clever, but she was also brave, and loyal, and just.. Happy. Despite everything, she was happy. It was more than he could say about himself, surely, watching her consider his question.  
“Don’t worry about it, Sev,” she smiled at him, “we’ll be friends, no matter what.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Should Severus end up in Slytherin, or one of the other houses? You've all no idea how tempted I am to put him in another house. Let me know down below! :)


End file.
